LOS ANGELES – UCLA senior defender/midfielder Erik Holt was named a United Soccer Coaches NCAA Division I All-American, it was announced on Thursday night in conjunction with the College Cup Banquet.
Holt, a San Diego native, was named to the Third Team. It was the first career All-American honor for Holt. UCLA was one of just two Pac-12 schools represented on the All-America Team (Stanford).
The All-America honor caps off a season full of accolades for Holt. Over the course of the year, he was named to the MAC Hermann Award Watch List and the Top Drawer Soccer Preseason and Midseason Top-100 Player Rankings. He has continued to pick up honors in the postseason, including being named to the All-Pac-12 First Team and United Soccer Coaches All-Far West Region. He was also a nominee for Pac-12 Player of the Year and Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year.
Holt becomes UCLA's 77th All-America honoree all-time and the 18th in the tenure of current head Jorge Salcedo (since 2004).
Splitting time between center back and holding midfielder, Holt was a mainstay for the Bruins in 2018. He started all 19 of the squad's games, one of just three Bruins to do so, and was on the pitch for a team-high 1,684 minutes; missing just 37 minutes, he was on the field for 98% of game action.
He was the leader of a Bruin defense that recorded six shutouts over the course of the season and held the opposition to one goal or fewer in 14 of 19 contests.
No slouch on offense, he was a key distributor from the midfield and recorded a career-high three assists.